Compressors and turbines of gas turbine engines typically include alternating rows of rotor blades and stator vanes in gas flow passages. Engine performance is directly related to the aerodynamic characteristics of the blades and vanes. Efforts have been made to improve the structure and profile of the blades and vanes. For example, in some gas turbine engines guide vanes may have a rib attached to opposed sides of the vanes, extending in the direction of a gas flow for dampening vibrations of the vane. In some gas turbine engines, blades or vanes may be provided with one or more transverse fins, each fin extending across both faces of the blade or vane in order to minimize the formation of vortices in the working fluid flowing within the curved channel formed between adjacent blades or vanes.
Nevertheless, there is still a need to provide improved stator airfoils to further improve engine performance.